garage

Once I went through the entire car and figured out everything that needed to be done, I realized it was far too long of a list to keep in my head. So, I made a list a running task list that's been added to as I've found new and exciting issues to address. The following represents what is needed to bring the car back to "perfect", so obviously some of them are things I'll address in the longer term.

As part of my rehabiliation of the car, I'm changing all the fluids. I don't have good (any) service records from before I inherited the car and the records I do have from the year or two before it was parked are, let say sketchy at best. I'm pretty sure most of the fluids in the car are original, save for Engine Oil and at possibly the transmission fluid.

It came as a bit of a surprise to me the obscene quantities of *everything* this car takes. I"ll just list it below:

Coolant: 16 quarts (yes, 3 gallons)

Engine Oil: 8 quats (yes, 2 gallons of oil)

Transmission: 4 quarts ATF (that what you can get in a change, the trans hold 13 quarts)

As I've been fighting with "The Best Car in the World" over the last couple of weeks, I've reached a level of frustration that has tested even my happy-go-lucky demeanor. This is sort of an epic saga which..well, perhaps I should just start at the beginning.

2 years ago after an unfortunate overheating incident, I purchased a new cylinder head and installed it. The car was never quite right afterwards. The bottom end knock that appears a couple thousand miles later was the end of it.

I hit up Harry's U-Pull it in Hazelton PA during one of their specials. I found an '89 323 that looked well cared for, but had been rear-ended pretty hard....cost $60.